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The development of behaviour therapy for OCD and its evolution into cognitive behaviour therapy is described, highlighting the importance of a crucial series of experiments conducted by Rachman and colleagues in the mid-1970s. More recently, developments in cognitive theory suggest that the key to understanding obsessional problems lies in the way in which intrusive thoughts, images, impulses and doubts are interpreted. The important negative interpretations usually concern the idea that the person's action (or choice not to act) can result in harm to oneself or others. This responsibility interpretation has several consequences (such as motivating neutralising behaviour and other counter-productive strategies, increasing selective attention, increased negative mood); these serve to maintain the negative beliefs and therefore the obsessive-compulsive problem. Both general and specific aspects of cognitive-behavioural treatment are described. A number of treatment strategies which are specific to obsessional problems are described in clinical detail.

Short-term behavioral therapy was provided 28 psychopathic and 29 general offenders. Significant personality differences were found between groups of offenders and minimal changes in aggressiveness variables were observed over the course of treatment.

An abundance of research from diverse areas of psychological science is potentially relevant to behavioral therapy development research. The National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health convened a workshop to reinforce the connection between basic behavioral and therapy development research. The articles in this Special Section are the product of this workshop. Several lines of basic behavioral research are described, and implications for the development of behavioral therapies are discussed. This Special Section highlights the notion that strengthening the bond between behavioral therapy development research and basic behavioral science will accelerate the advancement of knowledge about behavior, behavioral change, and therapeutic interventions., Better knowledge can be obtained of behavioral change, behavior and therapeutic interventions through the extension of the bond between basic behavioural science and research of behavioral therapy development. Behavioural therapy development research could directly benefit from research in areas such as experimental, developmental, personality, social and cognitive psychology. The National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse is holding a number of workshops so that researchers from various fields of psychological science can swap ideas.

The overprediction of fear is the tendency to overestimate the amount of fear one will experience in a subjectively threatening situation. This bias is thought to promote excessive avoidance and limit the opportunity for corrective learning. The stimulus estimation model states that the overprediction of fear arises from the overprediction of the danger features of the stimulus and the underprediction of available safety resources. Two recent studies reportedly failed to support the model (Arntz, Hildebrande & van den Hout, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 32, 709 722, 1994; Telch, Valentiner & Bolte, Behaviour Research and Therap), 32, 747-751, 1994). The present commentary shows that both studies suffered significant methodological problems and neither can be said to have tested the model. Criteria for evaluating the model are briefly discussed.

Pharmaco-Behavioral Therapy in Treatment of Premature Ejaculation, Amr I. El-Meliegy and Hussein H. Ghanem, Amr El-Meliegy, Saudi Arabia We compared the post-treatment maintenance effect of pharmacotherapy with paroxetene hydrochloride and [...]

Rachman's theory [The conditioning theory of fear insition: a critical examination. Behav. Res. Ther. 15 (1977) 375-387] of fear acquisition suggests that fears and phobias can be acquired through three pathways: direct conditioning, vicarious learning and information/instruction. Although retrospective studies have provided some evidence for these pathways in the development of phobias during childhood [see King, Gullone, & Ollendick, Etiology of childhood phobias: current status of Rachman's three pathway's theory. Behav. Res. Ther. 36 (1998) 297-309 for a review], these studies have relied on long-term past memories of adult phobics or their parents. The current study was aimed towards developing a paradigm in which the plausibility of Rachman's indirect pathways could be investigated prospectively. In Experiment 1, children aged between 7 and 9 were presented with two types of information about novel stimuli (two monsters): video information and verbal information in the form of a story. Fear-related beliefs about the monsters changed significantly as a result of verbal information but not video information. Having established an operational paradigm, Experiment 2 looked at whether the source of verbal information had an effect on changes in fear-beliefs. Using the same paradigm, information about the monsters was provided by either a teacher, an adult stranger or a peer, or no information was given. Again, verbal information significantly changed fear-beliefs, but only when the information came from an adult. The role of information in the acquisition of fear and maintenance of avoidant behaviour is discussed with reference to modern conditioning theories of fear acquisition. Keywords: Children; Fears; Anxiety disorders

Binge-eating episodes have alternately been described as stemming from strict dieting behaviors driven by overvalued ideas of weight and shape, or as arising from problematic interpersonal experiences. A third way of conceptualizing an eating binge is as a maladaptive emotion-regulation strategy, suggesting that facilitating more adaptive and effective affect regulation capacities may be a useful treatment. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a treatment aimed at increasing emotion regulation skill, is currently being adapted for use with a binge-eating disorder population. Assumptions underlying the treatment, methods in treatment delivery, and goals of the treatment package are discussed. A pilot study currently underway of group DBT therapy for individuals with Binge-Eating Disorder is described.

Behavior therapists' ability to survive and prosper in an increasingly competitive and restrictive health care environment may be dependent, at least in part, on the marketing of behavior therapists as valuable consultants. The process of marketing behavior therapists as consultants for pediatricians requires information about the problems that pediatricians confront as well as the perceived acceptability of the behavioral technology available to treat those problems. Eighty-five pediatricians identified the types of problems they regularly confront. They then rated the acceptability of six common behavioral interventions that might be used in the treatment of common child behavior problems. Results indicated that, more than any other problem, parents complain to pediatricians about their children's oppositional behavior. In addition, pediatricians report they find these problems most challenging to treat. Finally, pediatricians found each of the basic behavioral techniques to be acceptable for the treatment of oppositional behavior. The importance of these findings is discussed in terms of marketing behavior therapists and their technology and establishing careers in behavioral pediatrics.

The influence of sheltered workshop and community employment on inappropriate behaviors of six people with developmental disabilities was examined. During the first 3 months of community employment the mean decrease in targeted behaviors was 94%.